On the Mother's Day menu: Chemicals, negligence, silence!

Today is Mother's Day. We are all looking for flowers, searching for gifts, perhaps planning a breakfast for our mothers. But we must now consider whether the tomatoes, cucumbers, and strawberries we place on that carefully prepared table are truly a "gift."

Last year, over 500 shipments of vegetables and fruits sent from Turkey to European Union countries were rejected due to excessive pesticide use. The banned chemicals detected in our agricultural products are on the World Health Organization's list of hazardous substances. But those rejected products stay here, because selling them in Turkey is not against the law. Agricultural products sent by truck return to markets and grocery store shelves. From there, they come to our tables.

In other words, what we feed our children with a plate of tomatoes and two slices of cucumber is no longer just our responsibility, but the responsibility of this system.

We cannot protect the bounty that these lands offer us. Because the soil is polluted. The water has already been polluted for years. Hormones, pesticides, uncontrolled agricultural practices... Although pesticide use in Turkey is below the European Union average, its intensive use in some regions is noteworthy. For example, pesticide use per hectare is approximately 14 kg in Antalya and 9 kg in Manisa.

It has now become normal for a mother to wash the strawberries she buys from the market with soap first, and then give them to her child without feeling at ease. Because she also knows: The nature of this country is sick, its food is suspicious. Tables are sharing not their flavor, but their insecurity.

For a mother to protect her child, good intentions are no longer enough. Accessing healthy food has become a matter of luck, if not expensive.

Today is Mother's Day. Who knows how many mothers will put a plate of fruit in front of their child. But they will not be aware of how many chemicals, how much negligence, and how much lack of conscience are in that plate...

In this country, motherhood is not just about raising a child. It is about being unable to protect your child from dangers, being unable to voice your concerns. It is about being unable to ensure your child's food safety.

Come, let us not just buy flowers this Mother's Day. Let us also say something to this land. Let us take ownership of this system, this silence, and this blindness just as much as we do our mothers.

I am gifting my documentary "Sular Bulanmadan" (Before the Waters Get Murky) to all mothers and their loved ones who care about them. You can watch it on YouTube. I claim that after watching this documentary, you will not be the same person you were before!